It was an early start this morning as we boarded the bus for a short trip across the Alaska Highway. There we got on a park service bus for a Natural History Tour into Denali National Park. Our first stop was at a former visitor center to see a movie on the history of the park. Early guests slept in tents (a far cry from our lovely motel last night) and rode in carriages behind horses to see the park. We continued into the park, stopping to watch a moose on a hillside. Our next stop was at an old ranger cabin, where an interpreter talked to us about earlier years. With the sun shining brightly and no clouds in the sky, we still were not confident that we would be seeing Mt. McKinley. But the driver kept assuring us that it looked promising. Sure enough. A perfect view of "the great one" with not a cloud to hide either peak. It was very impressive. Our last stop was at another mountain viewpoint to listen to an Athabaskan woman from Minto, AK tell about native life and beliefs about the land. A golden eagle and snowshoe hare were also sighted on our memorable visit to Denali.
By then we were hungry, so lunch as we drove towards Anchorage tasted great. But within 15 minutes of leaving the park area, it started misting and the clouds rolled in, bringing a total change to the weather. It was a quiet group after that, until we arrived at a Denali Viewpoint State Park. Marvelous reader boards showed us what we would have been seeing if the weather hadn't changed.
Still farther south, we stopped at the Iditarod Sled Dog Race Headquarters in Wasilla. We were able to hold (and fall in love with) puppies, plus watch an Iditarod movie and look at displays.
By late afternoon we were driving in four lane divided traffic which brought us into Anchorage, largest city in Alaska and home to almost half of its population. We are eager to rest, but looking forward to sightseeing here tomorrow.-Laurel Johnson, Tour Director
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